Fab Friday's Five more Medals for Team GB

10 August 2012 / 23:59

It was dubbed Fab Friday and although there was no addition to Team GB's glittering tally of 25 Gold Medals, the combined total continued to rack up.

Friday produced FIVE more medals for Team GB and the sailors led the way with both men and women claiming Silver (see picture, above) in the 470 class and Bronze medals coming from the women's hockey team - a first Olympic hockey medal since 1992 - and Anthony Ogogo's brave campaign in the boxing.

There was a further Bronze bonus late last night when Lutalo Muhammad came through a two-fight taekwondo repechage to claim the medal in the -80kg division.

A Regatta to Remember for London 2012

It was a day to savour for Team GB’s 470 sailors as both male and female squads claimed Silvers at Weymouth and Portland yesterday.

First came the men’s event and, after a day’s delay due to the fact that the wind did not blow on Thursday, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell needed to finish two places ahead of Australia. They set out strongly and moved into the Gold medal position as they approached the first mark.

But their rivals proved too fast in light winds as Patience and Bithell had to settle for fourth in the final medal race, with the Australians finishing two places ahead in second.

Despite their initial disappointment with the final standings, the British pair were overjoyed with their performance in what was an Olympic debut for the pair.

“It's just so good to get Silver. It's been three or four years of hard work together and 15 years in our heads and we're on the Olympic podium.

“It's not Gold but we're young boys and there's plenty of time. Stuart's a legend and we're happy boys. What a week!” said Skipper Patience.

Then came Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, the pair needed to finish ahead of the New Zealand duo whom they were tied on points.

They too looked to be on course to secure Gold, but the variable wind on the notoriously tricky Nothe course did for them and they slipped down to finish ninth, while the New Zealand crew streaked to victory.

“We had the Kiwis on the start line and then we let them go to the right and we were wedged in with a few boats and couldn't follow them out there,” said Clark.

"Then when the wind dropped we knew the Gold medal was gone. But Hannah's a legend, when we started sailing together 18 months ago we put everything in and we weren't even thinking about medals.”

It ends what has been another successful regatta for Team GB, claiming five medals throughout the competition with one Gold and four Silvers.

Kate Walsh and Co make sure of Bronze

Team GB women’s hockey team ensured they did not leave London 2012 empty handed after they beat New Zealand 3-1 yesterday to win Bronze.

A packed and raucous Riverbank Arena crowd was treated to a commanding performance from Danny Kerry’s side, who ensured they finished on a high to win Great Britain’s first Olympic hockey medal since 1992 and only their second ever.

Captain Kate Walsh recovered from a broken jaw earlier in the tournament to captain her side to the first British Olympic hockey medal in 20 years.

“It has been a whirlwind two weeks,” she said. “The semi-final result to Argentina was pretty devastating and that hurt a lot, but we know each other so well and I just knew that come today we’d be ready and we’d be on it.”

“It was a bit of a strange game, it was one of those ones that when you’re playing it you’re concentrating every second, but I was also able to take a little step back now and again and think that this is good, we’re playing well,” she said.

“As soon as I got injured I thought that was my tournament over because I could feel my teeth over the other side of my mouth! But once I woke up, the surgeon was so confident that there was no stopping me and I wanted to get back out on the pitch with the team.”

“We all had this unwavering confidence that we were going to get something from this tournament, and once we couldn’t get Gold we made sure we were going to get Bronze,” she added.

Head coach Danny Kerry said he learnt a lot from the team’s performance at Beijing 2008, where they finished sixth, and that he was pleased with the way his team had performed at London 2012.

“I’m content. That was seven and a half years of work that went into this afternoon,” he said. “You always hear medal winners saying they just kept going or just kept coming back, and you’ve seen that here with Kate (Walsh) and the rest of the team.

"After the semi-final we were obviously disappointed but I knew we’d be good to go and that comes from a lot of hard work.”

Ogogo goes home with Bronze

Anthony Ogogo had to settle for Bronze as he lost out to Brazilian Florentino Falcao at the ExCeL arena yesterday.

Ogogo’s 16-9 loss cost him a place in the middleweight final, leaving the British boxer with Bronze.

And the middleweight admitted that he was "devastated" and "sad" but was determined to remain "humble and gracious".

In time, he said, he will come appreciate his Broze and accepted he was beaten by the better fighter on the day.

“It was a tough fight," he said. "I gave it my best and I have still got a Bronze medal. It has taken a lot out of me but I can't use that as an excuse. He is a good fighter and I didn't turn up.”

Lutalo Muhammad's Medal delight

Lutalo Muhammad went a long way to justifying his hotly-debated inclusion in the taekwondo team by winning bronze in the -80kg division.

He had lost in the quarter-finals on Friday afternoon and apologised for not delivering the performance he wanted but grabbed his second chance a few hours later. Lutalo bravely prevailed in both repechage contests to delight ExCeL Arena crowd and take the Bronze.

Just a Mo... Farah for the double

Mo Farah will look to add the 5,000-metre title to his 10,000-metre Gold medal today as he competes in the final.

Farah eased his way into the finals with a third place finish in his heat and will be hoping he can match his performances on Super Saturday.

Campbell goes for Gold

Luke Campbell will fight to claim Olympic Gold today at the ExCeL arena against Ireland’s John Nevine.

The all-British Isles affair will decide who wins the title of Bantam weight Olympic champion, and Campbell will be hoping he can claim Team GB’s second boxing Gold medal and the first one to be won by a man in the ring.

Men set to match the Aussies

Team GB’s men’s hockey team will have to put the disappointment of their mauling at the hands of the Netherlands as they face Australia in the Bronze medal match at the Riverbank Arena today.

The men recorded a 3-3 draw against Australia in their group stage match, and will want to go one better to secure a medal at London 2012.

They will be looking to match the performances of their female counterparts who beat New Zealand to Bronze yesterday.

Daley's in at the deep end today

Tom Daley will look to add an Olympic medal to his Commonwealth Games and European Championship Golds as he competes in the 10 metre Individual Platform.

Daley qualified well, ending in 15th place last night, and will look to better his performance in his pursuit for Team GB’s first diving medal since Athens 2004.

His synchronised diving partner Peter Waterfield could not make it as he ended the preliminary round outside the top 18 qualification spots for today’s semi-final and final.

McKeever on the march

Ed McKeever looked in imperious form as he paddled into the finals today by winning his semi-final heat at Dorney Lake.

The world champion is expected to be pushing for a medal in the canoe sprint, and McKeever qualified fastest for the final in a time of 35.619 seconds.